James A. Schafer. Sixty-ninth president of APS. The state of the society and its current challenges.

The last three years have brought unprecedented changes in The American Physiological Society and the benefits it provides for its members. The “White Paper,” published by the APS LongRange Planning Committee (7) in 1990, set the stage for these changes. A strategic planning retreat in January 1992 developed the details for new programs and objectives and the means of implementing them, and the Council adopted the plan in April 1992. Perhaps the most important decision was financial—we would invest a portion of the considerable assets of the Society in a Strategic Goals Fund, the income from which would be used to develop and fund new programs that would enhance our meetings, broaden our educational efforts, and improve the services we offer our members in many areas. As a part of the plan, the Society hired a fulltime Education Officer, Dr. Marsha Lakes Matyas, who has creatively expanded the educational resources available to our members, students, and postdoctoral fellows and to K-12 educators and the general public. Alice Hellerstein was engaged as the full-time Public Affairs Officer, and she has done a superb job of coordinating the efforts of the Public Affairs and Animal Care and Experimentation Committees. Hellerstein and Eric Feigl, Chair of the APS Public Affairs Committee and a member of the FASEB Public Affairs Advisory Committee (PAAC), have been essential in keeping APS members and the Council informed about pending legislation that would affect our discipline and in integrating the position of APS with that of the other FASEB societies. The Society also hired a full-time Marketing Officer, Jacqueline McKee, who has developed programs to promote our journals and our Society. The Council together with Ethan Nadel, Chair of the Program Committee, and the Program and Program Advisory Committees have worked hard to change the Experimental Biology meeting to better serve our needs for an APS Spring Meeting. However, none of these initiatives would have been possible without the outstanding management and leadership of Dr. Martin Frank, our Executive Director. In his more than ten years with the Society, Marty has constantly chalJames A. Schafer Sixty-ninth President of APS